The Hollow (2015)

Thanks for the memories!

Simply Perfect

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Let me start off by saying if, god forbid, I ever had another child and it was a girl, 'Emma' would be the last choice on my list of baby names and it's all thanks to this film. Actually, not even the last choice. There's a negative one billion chance that 'Emma' would ever make the cut.But I digress.This shallow excuse for a horror plot revolves around three stunningly idiotic sisters who are going to visit their aunt on some remote island after their parents were killed in a car wreck. The youngest sister, Emma, was also there and barely survived herself according to the middle sister, Marley, though Emma shows no outward physical signs of trauma. Just a mopey teenage girl who is already hurling head-long into goffdom at the age of fourteen.I give it another year before she's painting her eyes black and donning spiked dog collars while listening to The Cure on repeat.Since the car wreck, EMMA! is understandably devastated, but she takes it just a teensy bit too far with her, "Everyone around me dies," schtick. But she is correct. Everyone around her does die, but it's only because she keeps running off on her own which prompts her sisters to constantly chase her around the island, shouting, "Emma! EMMA!!!! EMMA!!!!!!!!" Obviously the townsfolk know a lot more about what's going on than the Three Stooges here, but despite their repeated advice to stfu, Sarah and Marley are steadfast in their pursuit, not to mention their complete inability to care about anyone else aside from EMMA!! "Whoops, we just got another islander killed with our incessant shrieking. Oh well. EMMA!!!!!"The two older sisters seem to be under the impression that they are just as expendable as the islanders. The audience nods in agreement.On another note: Marley seems to be suffering from a terrible case of Middle Child Syndrome. Just an observation.Honestly at this point, just let the stupid kid go where she wants and if she gets eaten by the big scary fiery twig monster, so be it.Also, what was up with Seth? What's his story? Does he have one? Does anyone even care?All in all, the premise was promising, the atmosphere was primed for some great spookiness, but the execution was a god awful failure. The only "horror" I experienced was the fact that this film made it to publication. There was little to no plot and if you even figured out what that was, congratulations. There was no character development, not even among the sisters. The smart people died off quickly while the three insipid baffoons remained alive until the end. Only in a cliched horror flick is that ever possible, though I still can't figure out why.

Three sisters go to live with their Aunt Cora (Deborah Kara Unger) on a remote NW island. It is Halloween and there is a monster thing (see DVD cover) on the loose and it is killing the residents. Emma (Alisha Newton) the youngest of the 3 sisters sees its killings in her dreams. We get an explanation of what this is by Toby (Dylan Playfair) who looks like a young Kurt Russell.This is a made for TV film. Nothing the kids can't see outside of a little horror. I thought the opening build up was good with Aunt Cora and Emma being spooked out. However once the film gets going, it gets into a rut and can't generate any more horror.

RELEASED TO TV in 2015, "The Hollow" is about three sisters (Stephanie Hunt, Sarah Dugdale & Alisha Newton) who travel to an island in the Northwest to live with their aunt (Deborah Kara Unger), but they soon discover that the island's cursed and the inhabitants are doomed to die every hundred years on Halloween. The girls eventually meet-up with some survivors played by Richard Harmon, Hilary Jardine, Jonathan Whitesell & Dylan Playfair. There's a lot of good in this movie. For instance, the foreboding forest ambiance is excellent, as is the creepy monster, which is a fiery version of the creature in 2013's well-done "Scarecrow." The serviceable no-name cast is decent, highlighted by Sarah Dugdale as the emerging heroine and Hilary Jardine in a too-brief role, both of whom are easy on the eyes. Unfortunately, the movie's ruined by overkill horror-flick banalities that scream "the filmmakers are amateurs." The film would've worked better by slowly building suspense, but the creators evidently thought the audience had ADHD and needed some contrived horror-shock every three minutes. Things get better by the midpoint when the girls discover others and the mystery of the island is explained, but the amped-up horror clichés soon return. The plot's great, but the script needed serious work. Too much of the dialogue, for instance, consists of one of the sisters calling for another, e.g. "Emma," "Emma," "Emma" or "Sarah," "Sarah," "Sarah." Still, there's enough good in this movie to make it worthwhile for some. I enjoyed the good elements despite its flaws. THE MOVIE RUNS 85 minutes and was shot in Mission, British Columbia. GRADE: C-

Ooookay. So, take three sisters, one of whom has oddly prophetic dreams, all are emotionally disturbed after the recent loss of their parents and strand them on an island where a supernatural entity is stalking them. Sounds like the greatest survival horror premise ever...Sigh.The entire movie is too bright, the monster shows up early and often, and the dialogue is terrible, the story makes no sense, there is no lighting change between night and day, the smartest of the sisters makes the dumbest move, and I'd almost be rooting for the monster if it weren't dumber than a sack of hammers itself. Despite looking like the greatest Metal album cover of all time, it's too stupid to kill three idiotic girls who spend the entire movie intentionally splitting up for stupid reasons.The sad thing is that this movie had such great potential!